Brian Head Expands Terrain Parks For All Abilities

Terrain parks are seen as the one of the keys to the growth of skiing and snowboarding in the United States, and [R80R, Brian Head Resort] appears to be getting ahead of the curve this season.

The southern Utah resort announced the opening of two revamped parks that fit beginners, intermediates or advanced free riders. The parks, called Junkyard and Progressive, have been redesigned by mountain crews in order to expand the skill level that each offers.

The Progressive Park, located off the Giant Steps lift, features a "beginners' line" with five small jumps, a wide box constructed out of old resort signs, and a butter box above and A-frame rail, according park director Austen Armstrong. These structures have been designed to get beginners and novices more comfortable with the typical moves in a terrain park before they move on to more difficult tricks.

Progressive Park is true to its name, in that its four boxes and rails, and 20-30 foot high jumps offer a learning curve into the advanced Junkyard Park.

Junkyard sits beneath the Wildflower chairlift. The redesigned park now has four jumps, ranging in size from 10 to 35 feet, as well as rails, boxes, logs, a Red Bull bonk and loud tunes pumped out of a Land Rover. Overall, the Brian Head terrain parks have 20 jib-worthy rails, boxes and snow-only features like berms and rollers, plus about 10 jumps of varying styles and degrees of difficulty. Each park alerts users to the SmartStyle safety program of the National Ski Areas Association.